Photo by Downing87Nurses at the Washington Hospital Center voted Wednesday to hold a one-day strike in early March to protest staffing and wage cuts amidst lagging contract negotiations. The National Nurses United union, which represents the approximately 1,600 nurses at WHC, has been at loggerheads with the hospital over contract issues since last year.
Threats of a strike aren’t new to the hospital. Last November, the nurses union threatened another one-day strike on Thanksgiving Eve to protest the firing of 18 nurses who couldn’t arrive to work due to the previous February’s snowstorms, as well as staffing shortages and pay cuts. The strike was subsequently stayed for a 90-day extension of negotiations. Now, three months later, the strike is back on. No date in March has been set yet.
